This Oven Fried Chicken recipe is going to become a family favorite. While it isn’t identical to a deep-fat fried version, it still packs amazing flavor and crunch on tender chicken breast tenderloins. No messy oil frying, and so much healthier than traditional fried chicken, this is an easy and yummy choice for classic American comfort food!
Serve these alongside my slow cooker mashed sweet potatoes for a perfect meal for your weeknight dinner.
Oven Fried Chicken
I love making a big batch of this crispy and flavorful oven fried chicken recipe. The combination of tender juicy chicken with my favorite spices and crunchy coating make it a mouthwatering recipe you will want on a regular basis.
I love that this easily replaces full-fat fried chicken in our menu. Since it is so good, my kids can’t even tell a difference! They love this slightly spicy version of a classic fried chicken.
If you like this chicken recipe, then I know you’ll love my baked fried green tomatoes. In fact, they are a perfect side or appetizer that goes alongside this yummy chicken.
How do you make this baked chicken crunchy?
With traditional fried chicken, the crunch comes from the breading and the oil. Once you have breaded the skin of the chicken, it is pan-fried or deep-fried to cook everything and make it crispy.
With my version of healthier fried chicken, the crunch comes from a combination of seasonings, corn flakes, and panko bread crumbs. Cooking at a higher temperature crisp the coating well while making sure your chicken is cooked through to a safe temperature.
Is this a buttermilk fried chicken recipe?
You can use buttermilk with this healthier oven fried chicken recipe if you prefer the flavor. While it’s typically used as a marinade or soak prior to breading and frying, you can use the same method for baking. Just substitute buttermilk in place of the milk in the wet step of coating this chicken before baking.
Brooke’s Tip: You can make your own buttermilk by adding about a tablespoon of vinegar to the milk.
Variations to this recipe
While it is hard to change up crispy fried chicken, there are some changes you can make to create a slightly different taste to your fried chicken.
- Marinade the chicken overnight in buttermilk. As mentioned above, it tastes great and when you make your own, keeps with the healthier version of crispy fried chicken.
- Add more heat. While this recipe calls for a little Frank Red Hot Sauce, it is only for flavor. You can add more and increase the heat in the recipe.
- Add additional spices. If you want to change up the flare of the fried chicken, try additional seasonings. Make it taste a little more southwest by adding cumin and chili powder. Add oregano and parmesan cheese to the coating for a different taste. The possibilities are endless.
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts
- Milk
- Frank’s RedHot sauce
- Cornflakes
- Paprika
- Salt and black pepper
- Panko breadcrumbs
How to Make Oven Fried Chicken
Begin by preparing the chicken. If you find thin-sliced tenderloins on sale, grab those. Otherwise, you can use regular boneless skinless chicken breasts and simply pound them down with a meat mallet or rolling pin. I usually cut them into smaller chunks or pieces for this recipe.
Once the chicken has been prepared, you can add it to the milk and hot sauce mixture and marinade. This should sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but I prefer to do this the day before I plan to cook them.
When you are ready to begin cooking the chicken, you will preheat your oven and prepare your baking sheet.
Next, you will create your coating by blending or processing the ingredients until they are a fine crumble. You can also hand mix the breadcrumbs and spices, and then simply crumble the cereal by hand and stir together for larger pieces of the coating.
Pour the breading into a shallow bowl, and then place the chicken breasts into the mixture turning and coating all sides.
Lay the chicken breasts that have been coated in a single layer on a baking sheet about 1/2″ apart from each other to allow plenty of air to move around them to crisp all sides.
Bake, as directed until the chicken, is cooked through. Serve with your favorite sides.
Healthier Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 4-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ¾ cup fat-free milk
- 1 tablespoon Frank's RedHot sauce
- 1 cup cornflakes
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of wax paper and gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until the breasts are about ½ inch thick. Cut each breast into 3 equal pieces.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and hot sauce.
- Place the chicken pieces in a large resealable bag and pour in the milk mixture. Squeeze out excess air, seal the bag, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to overnight (depending on how much time you have).
- When you're ready to cook, preheat oven to 400° F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a food processor, combine ½ cup of the cornflakes, the paprika, salt, and pepper. Pulse until the cornflakes become crumbs. Pour them into a shallow baking dish and stir in the panko.
- In a small resealable bag, gently crush the remaining ½ cup cornflakes by hand into small pieces. Transfer the hand-crushed cornflakes to the panko-crumb mixture.
- Remove the chicken pieces one at a time from the marinade and place in the cornflake mixture. Evenly cover each piece of chicken.
- Arrange the chicken in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 400° F, then reduce the oven temperature to 350° F and bake until the chicken is cooked through and crispy, 5 to 10 minutes longer.
Notes
Nutrition
